This month sees the opening of an Outside In exhibition in collaboration with Bethlem Gallery. Outside In: Bethlem will showcase the work of Daniel and Rodney, who have refined yet differing perspectives on geometric form. The exhibition will run from 19 August – 11 September at Bethlem Gallery, which is situated within the grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham, Kent.
Daniel and Rodney were selected for the exhibition by Simon Martin, Artistic Director of Pallant House Gallery, who was drawn to the idea of two artists using drawing within their work, but to different ends. Both Daniel and Rodney use linear marks to create sophisticated images, but whilst Daniel builds up complex mandala-like structures, Rodney pares back all detail to the simplest of forms.
Daniel’s Metatron works form a series of drawings that all use geometric shapes, lines and vivid colour. With a tightly developed methodology for constructing structures and composing forms, Daniel has created a strong visual identity for his work. “It takes me a couple of months to do one piece, as I do it bit by bit in my own time and space,” Daniel says. “You can always find a face in my drawings that for me represents Archangel Metatron, accompanied by the third eye.”
Simon says of Daniel’s work: “It has a remarkable precision and control, and yet it seems imaginatively free. The abstract forms and colours in his drawings and paintings seem to exist without reference to the physical world and they remind us that the artist can be like a shaman to the unconscious and a deeper spirituality.”
Similar in their use of geometric forms to Daniel’s pieces, the beautifully precise and simple forms of Rodney’s work come from his studies of the world around him and include people, interiors, guns, stereos, boxes and locks. His sophisticated process of distilling complex forms down to something more refined and elegant is carried out quietly and without any formal training. “Rodney’s drawings have a powerful simplicity,” says Simon. “He seems to distill the physical world down to the simplest scaffold of linear forms.”
Outside In and Bethlem Gallery both have the same ethos when it comes to promoting work by artists facing barriers to the mainstream art world, and this exhibition will combine these efforts for the second time, resulting in a high-quality show with a focus on geometric forms created in two unique styles.
For more information on the exhibition, please click here.
KDOA 